Of pleiotropy and trajectories: Does the TGF-β pathway link childhood asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

ABSTRACT: The study of developmental trajectories is where epigenetics truly shines. The "epi" in epigenetics captures the fact that although epigenetic processes also preside over the maintenance and termination of gene expression, the unfolding and remodeling of chromatin architecture are especially critical to prepare genes for regulated transcription. These properties imply being on a path, a trajectory to events that will occur later thanks to epigenetic programming. Thus epigenetics is about timed and timely events. In this article we discuss epigenetic and genetic evidence from several independent studies of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung function, which converge to highlight a potential role of the TGF-β gene pathway in these processes. These results raise the possib

SUBMITTER: DeVries A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5996766 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature